


Tap Away the Anger

by carreias



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Anger Management, Angst, Annabeth has anger issues, Drums, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Music, Percy has secret anger issues, Percy loves music, Slow Burn, i can't tag, oof
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 15:17:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18640723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carreias/pseuds/carreias
Summary: Percy gets transferred. Again. Ends up making friends with the class clown. Again. Somehow ends up attracting attention from the one person he wants to stay away from, And it attracts him back. Well, it forcefully pulls him back with beautiful grey eyes and the demand for tutoring in music class.





	Tap Away the Anger

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! Just to let anyone know who's actually reading this: I'm brand new to Ao3 and I'm still working on formatting and stuff (plus my writing skills lol) but this is definitely gonna end up as a decently long fic- I don't quite have a particular plo in mind yet, just a general idea so bear with me as I actually figure it out
> 
> Also, beware, cause I happen to both love reading angst and writing angst, so we're gonna get 
> 
> a n g s t y 
> 
>  
> 
> enjoy!!

Ringing.

The bell rang at a ridiculously ear-piercing volume. Every ting it made was like a crushing blow to the skull.

Screeching. Slamming.

Students’ sneakers made absurd noises as they hit the crappy tile. Locker doors slammed back against the door frames, crashing metal sounds echoing off every wall.

Chattering. Giggling. Growling.

Everyone in the hall was talking to someone, whether it was loud or quiet or perfectly normal. He could hear freshman girls giggling with each other as they walked. Angry sophomore football players growled as they dealt with their surplus of hormones and anger issues.

God, Percy hated high school.

Percy felt his shoulder accidentally hit a smaller one next to his as he walked through the crowds. Crap. "Sorr-"

“Watch where you're going, idiot,” snapped an overly angry female voice below him.

Percy looked down to see a short, blonde girl glare at him for a split second before shoving past him with way more force than someone of her size would be expected to be able to use. She shoved past him and kept walking. 

He slipped through the door, immediately taking a seat in the back corner for the vantage point and the invisibility factor. He started doodling in his notebook, moderately pleased with his lack of noticeability. Then he noticed a particularly lean and muscular blonde walk through the door, dropping her books down on a seat in the middle of the room.

“I wouldn’t pursue that interest, if I were you.”

Percy looked over to see a short kid with dark curly hair giving him a bit of a smug smile then raised an eyebrow.

“Valdez. Leo Valdez.” Leo held out his hand for Percy to shake.

Percy nodded and shook it. “I’m Percy. Just transferred. And what did you mean, that interest?”

Leo chuckled, his smirk never wavering. “Yeah, transfers are pretty easy to sniff out. And I was talking about Annabeth, the blonde girl over there you’ve been gawking at.”

“I definitely have not been gawking. I just find her interesting. She looks tiny and yet from my only encounter with her, she has the muscles of an ox,” Percy noted.

“You got that right. She’s been doing Muay Thai for years, and she’s trying to get a spot on our football team. They don’t want her cause she’s a girl, but also ‘cause she scares them. Apparently something happened to her a while ago that turned her into a silent box of fury. They know they need her though. She's real mean if you try and talk to her, so I would recommend just staying away from that pursuit,” Leo explained quietly.

“I see… well good to know, thanks for the heads up. Believe me though, I’m not interested,” Percy shrugged.

“Your mouth speaks different from your eyes, buddy.” Percy raised an eyebrow at his comment. “Anyway, how’ve you been handling the transfer? Everything been making sense to you?”

“For the most part,” He responded gruffly. “I could probably use a guide to show me the ropes though.” Percy decided it was probably best to make some form of an effort to befriend this kid. 

“Ahaha yes! I thought you’d never ask. I’ve always wanted to be like Janice or Damian from Mean Girls!”

Percy spent the rest of the class quietly chatting with Leo and taking a few notes. Leo seemed pretty cool. He noticed that Leo always seemed to be fiddling with something like his pencil, or a small screw and bolt set her kept in his pocket. He didn't mind, in fact it actually made him like Leo a little better. He had been doing the same thing for years, just instead tapping rhythms with his fingertips. It was soothing to find someone else with his problem. Leo seemed to also be very into making jokes at the worst possible times. Somehow, it almost made them funnier in Percy's opinion.  

Percy was incredibly relieved when class was over. Well, he thought he was. She then proceeded to walk over to his desk. 

She stared Percy directly in the eyes as a sort of aura of silent rage oozed off her body. Percy hadn't even flinched, and it was very clear that it was getting on her nerves. All he did was stare right back, a purely blank look on his face. He couldn't help but notice her eyes as they looked as if gorgeous spinning storm clouds were dancing along her irises. 

"What's your deal?" She asked quietly. Percy noticed the noise level in the room quiet a little as people began to watch. He leaned forwards and put his elbows on the desk.

"My deal? Oh, I don't know. Just trying to get a feel for this place, I suppose." He smirked, remaining perfectly still to match her demeanor.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in an irritated manner. "What made you move here..." She picked up one of his books, reading the name written in the front cover. "... Jackson?"

"I prefer Percy, thanks. And I don't think that's any of your business, is it?" 

She narrowed her eyes at him, dropped the book, and left. It was certainly an odd interaction. But not the weirdest of the day, or even the weirdest with her. That was for sure. 

 

Leo spent the next few periods explaining a bit about the professors and how to deal with them, and the same for a few of the students as well. Ms. Callaghan was super easy with her quizzes, every third answer was B. Mr. Albertson was super strict, and that was not a class to try to get away with anything in. Leo had given Percy a pretty good run through so far, but lunch was a whole new obstacle to deal with.

“So where’s the best place to sit in here?” Percy asked Leo quietly.

“You can come sit with me and my other friends. But I can give you a rundown on where to avoid.” Leo chuckled and led Percy to a table with a few other people, introducing them all. Percy nodded and gave a small wave to the group. He could see a small boy with jet black hair, pale skin, and insane bags under his eyes, all dressed in black was sitting next to a decently taller boy with blonde hair, a somewhat disturbingly warm smile, and tan skin. Leo had introduced them as Nico and Will. Sitting across from the pair was a gorgeous girl with dark hair and decently tan skin. The look on her face was positively lethal, and yet it was pretty obvious that was just her resting face. He could see a small rubber bracelet around her wrist with what appeared to be Hebrew lettering. He’d seen it before on people well trained in krav maga. Leo had said her name was Reyna. He made a quick mental note to not get in her way. The last two were pretty adorable. A tiny girl with massive curly black hair and darker skin leaned against a ridiculously tall boy who appeared to be of Asian descent. He had his arm curled around her. They were definitely together. Leo had introduced them as Hazel and Frank.  
Leo pulled him into the seat next to him on Nico and Will’s side of the table. He was pretty glad he didn’t have to sit next to the lovebirds. It was a little bit nauseating.

“So how are you liking Bayshore so far, Percy?” Hazel asked sweetly.

“It’s certainly interesting, I guess. I didn’t realize that there were actually schools out there that are this stereotypical,” He joked.

“What’d you go to private school or something?” Nico spat flatly. It was the only words Percy had heard him say, and the only ones for a while.

Percy had been studying Nico for a decent while during lunch. He was certainly one of the ones in the group that peaked his interest the most. Nico clearly was dealing with stuff, and more than just teenage hormones. Percy guessed family issues. What was more curious though was his relationship with Will. They were the exact opposites. Literally. Will practically radiated the color yellow, and Nico was the full human incarnation of the color black. Yet, there was thick tension between the two, and it certainly was not any form of anger or resentment. They weren't together, that was pretty obvious, but it sure seemed like they wanted to be. He had a feeling that to find out any more than that he would have to talk to Will, or maybe Hazel. She seemed relatively invested in the pair. 

“What?”

“He just means this is pretty typical for public schools,” Will spits out, practically covering for Nico. Nico probably had a habit of coming off much more rudely than he meant to, and Will was clearly very protective of the smaller boy. “But… did you?”

Percy smirked slightly then laughed. "That's a story for another day, buddy."

"Leo, how the hell do you always manage to befriend the mysterious ones?" Will gestured towards Percy, then at Nico and Reyna.

Reyna definitely grabbed Percy's attention. The krav maga band pulled him in, and her silent but lethal attitude kept him hooked. She was truly one of the most beautiful people he had ever seen, practically on par with the blonde from earlier. She gave off a lone wolf attitude, but something about her said that she cared about everyone sitting at the table more than even the lovebirds liked each other.

“Well, if there’s one piece of advice we can give you, it’s to keep your head down. There’s nothing worse here than getting noticed by one of the big cliques.” Hazel chirped.

“Good to know.” Percy responded. He asked them about their electives to start a new conversation. Plus he wanted to know if he knew anyone in his. Nico and Hazel were taking fine arts, Frank was in creative writing, Leo was in woodworking, and Will took a special biology course with one of his teachers.

“Man, too bad none of you are in music. You guys seem cool.” Percy chuckled. “You guys seem to be in interesting classes though.”

“You know, I think the Dean put Annabeth in music,” Leo said with a smile, nudging Percy with his shoulder. “She got in a fight a week or two ago and he switched her in with the hopes of it chilling her out more.”

“Is she really that bad? I can’t imagine someone so small being able to do as much as you all are making it sound.” Percy broke out in a small grin. "If anything, she's into me."

“Believe me, she’s worse.” Hazel shuddered, ignoring Percy's last comment. “Anyway, do you play an instrument or something? Why music?”

“I took up the drums a few years ago. The focusing on the beat is really helpful for me.” Percy drummed his fingers on the table for a few seconds.

“That’s so cool! Maybe you could make a band or something. Nico here plays the bass guitar,” Will said, grinning.

Percy smiled and nodded, carrying on the conversation for a little while before they all went off to their next class. He had math again with Leo, and Leo explained how the teacher, Mrs. Anderson, wasn’t someone who liked giving homework. Percy was certainly glad; he was never good at math.  
Then they finally split off into their electives. Percy slipped into the music room and sat towards the side of the room. He saw Annabeth sulking in the corner of the room, clearly incredibly pissed that she was here instead of in whatever class she was in before. He had a feeling she didn’t like her old class either, but this was probably a downgrade.

“Mr. Jackson, I assume?” The teacher had come over to his desk after the class had started.

“That’d be me.”

“Well I hope you know that this is no relaxed class. You come highly recommended, apparently. So let’s see it, newbie,” Mr. Ledo scoffed.

“Excuse me?” Percy questioned, not understanding who had recommended him or even why.

“I said let’s see it. Pick any instrument in this room and give it a go.” Mr. Ledo swung a hand around, gesturing towards the range of instruments in the room.

So much for keeping his head down.

Percy slowly stood up, moderately embarrassed. He walked around the room, brushing his fingers along the neck of a bass guitar, an acoustic guitar, and the keys on a piano. He could feel the gazes of his classmates and his teacher and his face warmed slightly. He eventually sat down on the stool behind a set of drums.

“Anything in mind?” He asked his teacher quietly. Mr. Ledo just shook his head and gestured at the instrument.  
Percy nodded sheepishly, pursing his lips as he started playing a simple, easy rhythm. Simple taps, simple beat. He was pure confidence around students normally, but playing his music felt to him as if he had just walked into the school completely unclothed.

“Please tell me that’s not the best you can do. From what I’ve heard, you should be able to do much better than that.” Mr. Ledo groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Percy took a deep breath. Great. He did not want to do this in front of his whole class. Oh well, he guessed. The first thing that came to mind was a drum solo from a particular part of one of the heavy metal songs he liked. He tapped an intro rhythm then went right into playing. He felt the beat flowing from his hands all through his body. The beat took him to another place, somehow. When he finally slowed down and opened his eyes again, the entire class had fallen totally silent and was almost slack jawed. Even Annabeth he noticed had fallen out of her usual demeanor, even if only for a second. He noticed her shake off the trance and regain her steely cold gaze.

Percy swallowed hard then felt himself start to panic. He quickly slipped off the stool and back into his seat.

“Well damn, class. I hope you all are that good by the end of the year.” Mr. Ledo chuckled.  
The rest of the class sailed by, as Mr. Ledo prepped everyone on what they would need to know for an upcoming class concert. Percy led the rest of the class pretty unnoticed. He slipped out after and hugged his books, trying to get to his locker fast.

“Hey Jackson!” He heard the blonde call.

He stopped at his locker, letting her catch up to him as he started grabbing books.

"You're gonna tutor me."

"Excuse me?"

"I said you're gonna tutor me. I watched you in there. You can clearly play more than the drums. I'm failing music. You're gonna tutor me."

"Hard pass."

"You don't get to pass."

"Ooh. Even harder pass."

"I bet Mr. Ledo would think it's a great idea. Maybe I should just go talk to him. He'd be happy to make it officially mandatory."

"Go for it, Lemonhead. Until then, pass." He smirked then stalked down the hall.

 


End file.
